Crying for You
by Aishiteru1984
Summary: Sakura’s relationship with Sasuke begins with a childhood crush on him, but as they grow older Sasuke finds that he too is beginning to fall for his teammate. Can their love for one another withstand the trials, tribulations, deception, and death they wi


This storry "Crying for You" is based on the 30 tears challege over at LiveJournal.

Also, I would like to thank Kira-chan (kirayasha) for betaing my fic. Thank you so much, Kira-chan.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own the characters of Naruto, Masashi Kishimoto does.

**WARNING**: This chapter contains mild language.

**

* * *

****Crying for You** - A Hot Spring…?  
Tear #16: Summer 

Naruto rested his head in his hand, aimlessly gazing out the window and occasionally up at the clock, wondering how long it would be until class was over. He had been behind in his note taking for the duration of the class, but figured he could copy Sakura's notes early the next morning while she wasn't looking. Naruto dashed out through the Ninja Academy's doors as soon as class was dismissed relieved to be out of the stuffy lecture hall. Since sitting inside and writing all day wasn't his style, he was glad to finally be outside in the cool summer evening. In his eagerness to get home he wore himself out running and so he dragged his feet behind him, thankful the long day of advanced ninja skill classes at the academy were finally behind him. He yawned and stretched his arms and stiff legs as he said, to no one in particular, "Gee, they really lay it on thick. I'm beat! When I get home I'm going to make some ramen. Though I don't know which kind yet. Maybe miso…or maybe beef…or…I don't know. Then I'm going to bed."

The entire time Naruto was talking to himself, Hinata was walking in front of him, holding a bag of groceries in her arms. She began to quicken her pace, as she left the little store, eager to get back home and eat dinner. Even though her family was wealthy and had servants to go out and purchase the groceries, she still liked to buy what she needed to make her own meals once and a while. The gap in her relationship with her father and sister grew larger as the years passed and they no longer ate as a family. Nonetheless, she was determined to break the gap between them and show her father she was just as gifted as her sister.

Naruto's eyes lit up, as did his sense of smell, to the tasty smell of Ichiraku Ramen's ramen. He began to drool and said aloud, "That's it! I'm eating out tonight!" Then an idea hit him as he took notice to Hinata, who was walking a few feet in front of him. He hadn't talked to her in a while and he decided it was time to catch up. "Hinata!" Naruto loudly called, his voice ringing through the desolate street.

Hinata paused, distracted in her thoughts, dropping her bag of groceries. She tensed and blushed a dark shade of pink at the sound of Naruto's voice calling her name.

"Hey, Hinata!" Naruto called again, running up to her.

"Oh, Naruto, it's you," Hinata said, her voice shaky with nervousness and surprise. She watched as Naruto bent down and began to pick up the groceries that were scattered across the street.

"Hehe. Didn't mean to scare you, Hinata."

"That's all right, Naruto," Hinata replied, "I…I…should have been more aware of where I was going."

"Say, Hinata, are you hungry?" Naruto asked.

Hinata stared at him curiously. "Um…a little… Why?"

"Want to go get some ramen? My treat!" Naruto replied, grinning widely.

_Is he…asking me out…?_ Hinata asked herself as the color of her cheeks deepened to a darker shade of pink. "I…uh…that sounds nice, Naruto. Arigatou."

Naruto took her bag of groceries and carried it into the small restaurant, lifting the small flap letting Hinata enter before him, he set the bag down beside the stool Hinata occupied. After asking what she wanted, Naruto ordered the same thing for both of them. When the owner of the restaurant asked for payment, Naruto's face turned a deep red as he felt around his pockets for his money. Finding nothing, he remembered it was at home on his dresser. He turned to Hinata, and scratching the back of his head embarrassingly, chuckled nervously as he asked, "Hey…Hinata? Um…I sort of forgot my money at home. Heh…heh… Could you…? Would you mind…?"

Hinata sighed as she handed the owner a small bill. They sat in silence after they were each served a steaming bowl of ramen. Neither really knew what to ask the other, or what to converse about. After all, they hadn't spoken in so long and they were separated into different classes and they both trained in their spare time.

"Sasuke!" Naruto heard Sakura call out, as she rushed by the restaurant. Naruto whirled around in his stool and squinted in the direction of Sakura's voice trailing off.

"I wonder what's going on?" Hinata asked curiously.

"Eh! It's Sakura, acting like Sakura. That's all. She's always chasing him around for something." _I wish she would chase me like that…_

"Oh. I see." Hinata replied, turning back to blowing on the ramen she held in her chopsticks.

"Sasuke, wait!" Naruto heard Sakura call again.

"Hey, Hinata, let's go see what she's up to," Naruto smirked, nudging her with his elbow.

"Um…but…that would be rude, Naruto."

"Nah! It's probably just the same thing, Sakura trying to get Sasuke to go out with her."

"Oh, well then, I guess…" Hinata replied hesitantly.

Naruto grabbed her hand and they both dashed off quietly into the night, leaving their half-eaten bowls of ramen and Hinata's groceries behind, as they looked for Sakura and Sasuke.

* * *

Sasuke crumpled a small piece of paper in his hands and shoved it into his pocket as he impatiently waited for Sakura to arrive. _Hmph. She asks to meet me here and then is late? Must not be that important…_ He turned on his heal, and after waiting a second more, set off for home. 

"Sasuke!" Sakura called, panting.

Sasuke continued on, ignoring Sakura's calls to him.

_Gee, Sakura, you just had to take that extra second to make sure each strand of your hair was perfect. Now he's mad at me… Now what…?_ Sakura thought as she ran to catch up to him. "Sasuke, wait!" she called out again.

He finally turned around to acknowledge her, his expression telling of his annoyance. "You're late, Sakura. You're turning into Kakashi…"

"I'm so sorry, Sasuke," Sakura apologized, bowing continuously to him.

"What is it you want, Sakura? I don't have all night. I already wasted half the night waiting for you. You're lucky I waited as long as I did." Crossing his arms, bristling with impatience, as he waited for her to answer.

Sakura frowned at his words. _Well, you didn't have to phrase it like that, Sasuke…_ "Well, uh…I can't tell you here," Sakura replied, looking away. _If Ino hears me telling Sasuke what I have to tell him, and for him to just ignore me, she'll never let me forget it…_

"Then tell me another time. I'm going home," Sasuke said stubbornly, turning back around, and beginning to walk away.

Sakura ran in front of him, pressing her hands against his chest, stopping him. "No, please, Sasuke. I…need to tell you something and I…can't do it here… There are…too many people around…" Sakura confessed, looking shyly around her to see if there were any familiar faces watching her.

Sasuke saw in her expression a look of shame and nervousness as she turned away. _I wonder what is so secretive that she can't tell me here?_ He thought it over for a second, and curious, he gave into her request and followed her.

* * *

Naruto stuck his head out and around the corner of the building, as he said aloud, not intending for Hinata to actually answer, "I wonder what that's all about?" 

"Um…I…don't know, but…we shouldn't pry," Hinata warned.

"It's only Sakura. Besides, don't you think it's odd she just wants to tell Sasuke a secret and not me? Then again, she's always asking him to go out with her."

"Well, I don't know Sakura very well, but maybe that's what she's doing, Naruto. We should give them their privacy. Besides, what if the secret she wants to tell him is only meant for him to hear…? Oh?" Hinata was caught off guard as Naruto pulled her along behind him in the direction, Sasuke and Sakura headed for.

"I'm more reliable than he is!" Naruto snapped.

"Maybe she doesn't want to tell you just yet, Naruto?" Hinata suggested.

"I don't know, but one way or the other, I'm going to find out that secret!" _What are you up to, Sakura…?_ Naruto thought to himself as he and Hinata ran discretely behind Sasuke and Sakura.

_Cha! That's the way to real him in, Sakura! Though if I keep pretending to be so upset about something, and cry wolf, he'll never believe me again…_ Sakura thought as her smile turned into a frown. She still couldn't believe that Sasuke had actually agreed to come with her. And she had a strange feeling that she and Sasuke were being followed, but dismissed the thought as nonsense since Sasuke was just a few feet behind her.

The air around them soon became warm in the midst of the cool summer night and Sasuke wondered where Sakura was leading him. He had also felt the strange presence of someone following them, but ignored it when his eyes widening at the sight of their final destination. _A hot spring…?_

Sakura saw the surprise on his face and giggled to herself. "Here we are," she announced.

He groaned and leaned against a tree, unimpressed. _She lured me here to ask me out, didn't she…?_ "We're here, so what is it that you wanted to tell me, Sakura?"

Sakura sat down at the edge of the small steaming pool and took her sandals off, setting them close beside her. She twisted around and smiled at him, patting the ground beside her. "Why don't you come over here, Sasuke?"

"Here's fine."

"Come on, Sasuke, put your feet in. The water's so warm. It'll sooth your feet," Sakura swayed. She retracted her feet from the hot water a few times before they were used to its temperature, and circling them around, allowed the hot water to massage her feet.

"They don't need it…" Sasuke huffed, sticking his nose up in the air. He was upset at himself for falling into Sakura's trap and wasn't in the mood for her senseless flirting. He already knew the answer to the question he was certain she was going to ask.

Sakura sighed at his refusal, "Well, could you at least come closer?"

"Fine." Sasuke sat himself behind Sakura, hugging his knees to his chest. "So, what is it, you wanted to tell me?"

"I…I…um…" Sakura stuttered nervously, her voice barely audible. _Why do I even bother…I know what he's going to say already. I just might as well give up while I'm ahead…_ Sakura sighed as she thought to herself.

_She's nervous._ Sasuke thought, staring at the ground. _That's definite proof of what she is going to ask me._

"You probably think I brought you here to ask you out, huh, Sasuke?" Sakura began, "but that isn't what I wanted to tell you…I…" Sakura paused. She could feel Sasuke pressing his back against hers and she was thrilled he was flirting back. However, that thought was short-lived when she noticed the tension in his back.

Sasuke heard the slight rustling of the bushes close beside them and pulled out some shuriken and hurled them at the nearest bush. Nothing moved, screamed, or fell to the ground. All that was heard was the sound of the shuriken hitting the ground with a small thud.

* * *

"So, they are headed toward the hot springs?" Naruto concluded. 

"How…can you tell, Naruto?" Hinata asked.

"Used to come and relax here in the summer, but that was before I joined the academy. Iruka-sensei would come with me when he didn't have anything else to do, but that was only on very special occasions," Naruto answered.

Hinata smiled. She had always wondered about small things like that, and his sharing a story from his past made her happy.

"While we're there, we should take a second to relax," Naruto suggested, smiling.

"Um…but…Sasuke's there and I…don't know him very well…" Hinata protested.

"Who, Sasuke? He's harmless. Sakura on the other hand, she's the one you have to watch out for," Naruto explained.

Hinata's eyes widened at his answer and she clenched his hand tighter.

Naruto paused for a brief moment, placing his finger at his lips, signaling for Hinata to stay quiet. She nodded and they both squatted down behind a nearby bush.

_I can't hear what they're saying. Damn! We're too far away. But I don't want to get any closer than this or Sasuke will kill me. More likely Sakura will kill me first. They sure do look cozy, almost as if the two of them actually like each other. Heh! Like that'll happen. Sasuke doesn't like anyone._ Naruto thought to himself as he watched Sasuke sit down behind Sakura. Unfortunately, Naruto was so lost in his thoughts about how to avoid being caught, that he failed to realize they already were found out.

_Whew! That was close._ Naruto thought as he sucked his stomach in as the shuriken brushed by its surface.

Hinata, afraid by how close that shuriken came to killing Naruto, laid low to the ground, not daring to move. _He…really is scary…_

* * *

"What was that about, Sasuke?" Sakura asked. 

"I heard someone," Sasuke said, looking straight at the bush Hinata and Naruto were hiding behind.

"You must be hearing things, Sasuke. We're in the forest. I could have just been a rabbit or a squirrel, or something like that."

"You mean you haven't felt the presence of anyone following us?"

"Now that you mention it, I did a while ago…but I don't feel it now."

"Hmph. You need to brush up on that skill then."

Hinata shifted unexpectedly behind the bush, directing Sasuke's attention to their hiding place. He threw another shuriken at the bush again and this time there was no sound of it landing.

"What the…?" Sasuke questioned aloud.

"You missed," Naruto teased, as he stood up from behind the bush, smirking. The two small shuriken spun around on his fingers as Sasuke glared at him.

Hinata rose from behind the bushes and hid behind Naruto, continuing to squeeze his hand.

"What do you want, Loser?" Sasuke snapped.

"Nothing. So what are you guys doing out here?"

"Nothing, now get lost!"

Naruto smirked, noticing Sasuke's hesitation to tell the truth, and his closeness to Sakura. "Ooooooooh, we're here for the same reason you two are."

"What? Beat it, Naruto!" Sakura yelled, frowning when she noticed Hinata hiding behind Naruto. "I'm sorry, Hinata, I didn't see you there. I have an idea, while those two glare at each other, why don't we relax in the hot springs? I'm sure you are still a bit sore from your match with Neji," Sakura suggested smiling.

Hinata smiled as she nodded and approached Sakura.

"You boys turn around so we can get undressed," Sakura commanded, then adding, "No peeking, Naruto!"

Sasuke immediately turned around not particularly interested. With a loud 'hmph' Naruto also turned around, crossing his arms.

"So why are you sticking around, Sasuke?" Naruto teased, "You weren't all that interested in coming here in the first place. Now that I am here I can protect the girls from any harm that should come to them, so you can go on home."

Hinata blushed at Naruto's determination to protect her from any danger they would encounter, should any come about, as she folded her clothes neatly, laying her hitai-ate on the top of the small pile.

"Hmph. I doubt that. That's why I'm staying."

_Cha! He's staying to protect me! Sakura thought, smiling widely. Could this really be his vow to always protect me? He didn't exactly phrase it that way, but it sure sounded like it._ Sakura boasted, also folding her clothes and laying them in a neat pile.

The girls were soon relaxing in the hot spring as the boys argued. While Sakura was annoyed that Naruto had ruined her moment with Sasuke, Hinata was enjoying spending some time with another konoichi for once and seemed comfortable enough to relax, almost falling asleep.

"Oh yeah!" Naruto yelled, kicking Sasuke into the deeper end of the springs. He jumped in after him and the water splashed and sloshed all over, drenching Hinata and Sakura. Once every few seconds one would emerge from the water gasping for air and fall back under in the waves created by their brawling.

_Boys…_ Sakura thought. She was clearly annoyed as she watched the two fighting.

Hinata just looked on in terror. "Are they…always like this, Sakura?"

"Yeah, pretty much…"

Suddenly things went quiet as the guys' clothes rose to the water's surface. The girls looked at the clothes curiously before Sasuke and Naruto jumped out of the hot springs, water trailing behind them. They stood across from each other wearing nothing, each in a stance of defense.

It took Sakura a moment to discover that both of them were naked. Her face turned so red that it made her hair look white as she screamed. Hinata's eyes widened as she gaped at her two classmates in disbelief. Sakura couldn't believe what she was seeing. She thought that the first time she would see a naked male would be her wedding night. This was all too much for her to handle.

Sasuke and Naruto looked curiously at Sakura and Hinata. They quickly jumped away into bushes opposite one another when they finally realized they were undressed.

"S…Sakura…? Can you bring me my clothes…?" Sasuke stuttered with embarrassment.

"Mine too, Hinata!" Naruto smirked, popping his head up out of the bush. He was thrilled to have embarrassed Sasuke, making _him_ look like a fool for once, even though it was at his own expense as well.

"S…sure…" Sakura replied, before wrapping herself in her red outfit.

Hinata nodded, wrapping herself in her coat, before kneeling and fishing Naruto's clothes out of the water.

Both boys watched as the two girls climbed out of the water and tried their hardest to hide the embarrassment and the redness of their cheeks.

Sakura picked up Sasuke's wet clothes and approached Sasuke, wringing them out as she did so, when she noticed Sasuke didn't land in just an ordinary bush, but a poisonous Japanese Sumac. She exchanged glances with Hinata and learned that Naruto did the exact same thing.

"Sasuke…uh…" Sakura hesitated, "You're…um… That's um…that's poisonous Japanese Sumac…" Sakura figured that Hinata had just told Naruto the exact same thing because Naruto and Sasuke panicked and scrambled out from behind the bushes. They both had visible droplets of sap on their bare skin. Looking over at the tree, the girls saw the shuriken had penetrated its bark.

"You should probably try to wash as much of that sap off as possible," Hinata advised. She watched as they both rushed to the edge of the hot spring, frantically scrubbing their skin. Naruto dived into the hot water to make sure he got every last drop off, and Sasuke was soon following his lead.

_This…is too awkward…_ Sakura thought as she hurriedly slipped into her shorts. Afterwards, she threw Sasuke his clothes and whirled around to let him dress, burying her burning face in her hands.

Hinata in the meantime retrieved her clothes and dressed behind a nearby tree, after handing Naruto his clothes. She felt badly for the two boys. Her cheeks were burning, as she would occasionally glance over at Naruto to see if he was decently dressed yet.

"Tell this to anyone, Loser, and I'll kill you for sure," Sasuke threatened, pulling his shirt down.

"Yeah? Same goes for you, Sasuke!" Naruto exclaimed, tying his hitai-ate.

"Um…we should have that poison taken care of before it spreads and begins to itch," Hinata urged.

"I hate hospitals!" Naruto exclaimed, turning around, and pouting like a little kid. "I bet Sasuke doesn't have a problem with them, he practically lives there," Naruto mocked.

"Naruto!" Sakura yelled, "That wasn't nice!"

Sasuke punched Naruto angrily, knocking him over.

"Stop it, you two!" Sakura shouted, holding back Sasuke.

"Whatever you do, Sakura, don't…" Hinata began, and then sighed, noticing Sakura holding Sasuke's arm, "…touch him…You'll get affected by the Japanese Sumac's poison too…"

"EEE!" Sakura screamed as she jerked away from Sasuke as if he were a large scary insect.

Sasuke smirked as he thought; _Now if anyone asks how we got poison we can just say that we came across it on one of our missions._

"Well, we should probably get to the hospital," Sakura sighed. _I hate hospitals too. I just know they are going to give me a shot or something. I never had poison before. Is it going to kill me? Am I going to die before I ever get to kiss Sasuke?_ Sakura thought as tears of fright streamed down her cheeks. And in her panic hastily took Sasuke's head in her hands and kissed him forcefully on the lips.

Sasuke's eyes widened as he struggled to get away from the frantic love-stricken girl. Finally breaking away, he asked, "S…Sakura, what was that for?"

"I'm going to die!" she cried, hugging him.

"You're not going to die, Sakura. Get a hold of yourself!" Sasuke assured her, trying to push her off of him.

"Um…we're leaving…" Hinata stated.

Sasuke grabbed Sakura's hand as the four made their way to Konoha's hospital.


End file.
